The Christmas Pantomime held by our Franco-Anglaise association was very loosely based on the Wizard of Oz, Cozes being a town in the area. The panto, as all our theatrical efforts, was in both English and French with the usual ‘He’s behind you!’ ‘Oh, no he isn’t!’ ‘Oh, yes he is!’ a mixture of French and English carols and Christmas songs not forgetting Santa himself! Although the concept is, of course, typically English but our French members just love the idea.

At first, myself, along with my line dance class ALAMO were only to perform one dance at the end of act one. However some of the actors had to drop out and I ended up with a part as the ‘Good Fairy’ based on the political figure Ségolène Royale (president of our region)! The part, was at first, quiet small but I built it up to resemble more the character of Ségolène, political slogans and all.

The stage was very small so there was only enough room for 6 of us to perform a dance, once again to Jingle Bell Rock. The rehearsals left much to be desired as we all forgot our steps and when to turn, but at the actual performance all was well and the public loved it. (They also loved Ségolène!). It only goes to show that you don’t know what you might get into when you take up line dancing!